Printing device

ABSTRACT

A printing device includes a panel unit including: a display panel; a capacitive touch sensor in which a position detection sensor and a cover glass are laminated and which includes a first side and a second side located facing each other; and a panel circuit board, the capacitive touch sensor in the second attachment state is disposed so that the first side is lower than the second side, and a size of a first frame area located along the first side in a frame area that does not receive an input of operation information of the capacitive touch sensor in a direction from the first side to the second side is larger than a size of a second frame area located along the second side in the frame area in the direction from the first side to the second side.

The present application is based on, and claims priority from JPApplication Serial Number 2021-013287, filed Jan. 29, 2021, thedisclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety.

BACKGROUND 1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a printing device.

2. Related Art

In recent years, printing devices have been used in a wide variety ofenvironments such as homes and offices. Therefore, when manufacturing aprinting device, there is a need to develop a printing device withexcellent usability that anyone can use in the same way regardless ofthe height and gender of a user who uses the printing device and whetheror not there is a disability.

As a technique focusing on the viewpoint of providing such a printingdevice with excellent usability, for example, printing devices asdescribed in JP-A-2007-310050 and JP-A-2006-251168, which are providedwith a mechanism for rotating an operation portion in consideration ofthe height of a user and the like, a printing device provided with alarge display as described in JP-A-2010-004134, and a printing deviceprovided with a capacitive touch panel as described in JP-A-2016-167819,and the like are known.

However, from the viewpoint of providing a printing device withexcellent operability, when the techniques described inJP-A-2007-310050, JP-A-2006-251168, JP-A-2010-004134, andJP-A-2016-167819 are combined, a new problem arises due to thecombination.

When a touch panel of 8 inches or more, which has been recognized as alarge screen in electronic devices such as smartphones in recent years,is rotatably incorporated into the printing device as a user interfacein the printing device, the screen size of the touch panel becomeslarge, so that the weight also increases, and it becomes necessary tohave a strong configuration as a support portion that supports therotation of the touch panel. Therefore, the structure of the supportportion that supports the rotation of the touch panel becomes large, andthe printing device itself becomes large. Then, as the printing devicebecomes large, the space for installing the printing device is limited.That is, when a touch panel of 8 inches or more is rotatablyincorporated into a printing device, there is a possibility of impairingusability from the viewpoint that a large space for installing theprinting device is required.

Further, as described in JP-A-6-199010, in a printing device, a largeamount of static electricity is generated due to the transport of amedium and is discharged via a housing of the printing device. That is,a large amount of static electricity may be generated in the printingdevice, and a large amount of electric charge due to the staticelectricity may be stored in the printing device. When a capacitivetouch panel is used as a user interface for such a printing device thateasily generates static electricity, the capacitive touch panel operatesbased on the change of the electric field on the panel surface, so thatthere is a possibility that the capacitive touch panel may malfunctiondue to the static electricity generated in the printing device.

Further, from the viewpoint of providing a printing device withexcellent usability, when a large-screen and rotatable capacitive touchpanel is applied to the printing device, the static electricitygenerated in the printing device enters the inside of the capacitivetouch panel via an operator who operates the capacitive touch panel, andas a result, there is a possibility that the capacitive touch panel maymalfunction.

That is, from the viewpoint of providing a printing device withexcellent operability by combining the techniques described inJP-A-2007-310050, JP-A-2006-251168, JP-A-2010-004134, andJP-A-2016-167819, simply combining existing techniques is not enough,and there is room for further improvement.

SUMMARY

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided aprinting device including a printing unit that performs printing on amedium, and a panel unit to which operation information for operatingthe printing unit is input, in which the printing unit includes aprinting mechanism that executes a printing operation according to theoperation information, and a main circuit board including a processorthat controls an operation of the panel unit and controls an operationof the printing mechanism based on the operation information, the panelunit includes a display panel, a capacitive touch sensor in which aposition detection sensor and a cover glass are laminated, a panelcircuit board electrically coupled to the capacitive touch sensor, and apanel housing that stores the display panel, the capacitive touchsensor, and the panel circuit board, the capacitive touch sensorincludes a first side, a second side located facing the first side, athird side intersecting both the first side and the second side, and afourth side located facing the third side, the panel unit is rotatablyattached to the printing unit so as to take a first attachment state anda second attachment state, in the first attachment state, an angleformed by a horizontal direction and a normal direction of thecapacitive touch sensor is larger than an angle formed by a verticaldirection and the normal direction of the capacitive touch sensor, inthe second attachment state, the angle formed by the horizontaldirection and the normal direction of the capacitive touch sensor issmaller than the angle formed by the vertical direction and the normaldirection of the capacitive touch sensor, when the panel unit is in thesecond attachment state, the capacitive touch sensor is disposed so thatthe first side is lower than the second side in a direction along thevertical direction, the capacitive touch sensor includes an operationarea that receives an input of the operation information and a framearea that is provided around the operation area and does not receive theinput of the operation information, and a size of a first frame arealocated along the first side in the frame area in a direction from thefirst side to the second side is larger than a size of a second framearea located along the second side in the frame area in the directionfrom the first side to the second side.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram for describing a functional configuration of aprinting device.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a functional configuration ofa panel unit.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration of a displaypanel.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration of a positiondetection sensor and a sensor drive circuit.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an external structure of the printingdevice.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of an internal structure of ahousing.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a transport path of a mediumtransported by a printing mechanism.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for describing an example of an attachment state ofthe panel unit.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for describing a structure of a panel unit.

FIG. 10 is a view of a touch sensor when viewed from a −z side.

FIG. 11 is a view of the touch sensor when viewed from a +z side.

FIG. 12 is a view of the panel unit when viewed from the −z side.

FIG. 13 is a view of the panel unit when viewed from a −x side.

FIG. 14 is a view of the panel unit when viewed from a +y side.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a cross section taken along line XV-XV ofFIG. 12.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a cross section taken along line XVI-XVI ofFIG. 12.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a cross section taken along line XVII-XVIIof FIG. 12.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will bedescribed with reference to the drawings. The drawings used are forconvenience of description. The embodiments to be described below do notunduly limit the contents of the present disclosure described in thescope of claims. In addition, all of the configurations to be describedbelow are not necessarily essential configuration requirements of thepresent disclosure.

Hereinafter, as the printing device according to the present disclosure,an ink jet printer that prints an image by ejecting a liquid onto amedium will be described as an example, but the printing device is notlimited to the ink jet printer, and may be a dot impact printer, athermal transfer printer, a laser printer, or the like.

1. Functional Configuration of Printing Device

FIG. 1 is a diagram for describing a functional configuration of aprinting device 1. As shown in FIG. 1, the printing device 1 includes aprinting unit 10, a panel unit 20, and a wireless communication unit 30.Then, the printing device 1 prints a desired image on a medium bycausing the printing unit 10 to land ink at a predetermined position onthe medium based on information input from the panel unit 20 and thewireless communication unit 30. That is, the printing device 1 includesa printing unit 10 that performs printing on a medium, and a panel unit20 and a wireless communication unit 30 to which operation informationfor operating the printing unit 10 is input.

Here, although the medium to be printed by the printing device 1 in thepresent embodiment will be described as sheet-fed paper, the medium usedin the printing device 1 is not limited to sheet-fed paper, and may beroll paper. Further, the medium is not limited to paper, and may be afiber material such as a cloth or a resin such as plastic.

Operation information for operating the printing device 1 is input tothe panel unit 20 by an operation of a user, and an operating state ofthe printing device 1 is displayed thereon. Specifically, the operationof the panel unit 20 is controlled by a panel control signal PNc inputfrom the printing unit 10 via a cable 210, and the operating state ofthe printing device 1 propagated based on the panel control signal PNcis displayed thereon. Further, the panel unit 20 outputs the operationinformation input by the user as a panel operation signal PNo to theprinting unit 10 via the cable 210. Here, the panel control signal PNcinput to the panel unit 20 and the panel operation signal PNo output bythe panel unit 20 may be, for example, a signal conforming to I squaredC (I2C) communication propagated by serial data and a serial clock, or adifferential signal such as low voltage differential signaling (LVDS)communication. The details of the functional configuration of the panelunit 20 and the details of the structure will be described later.

The wireless communication unit 30 includes a near field communication(NFC) module 31 that performs wireless communication at a short distanceof several cm to several tens of cm, and a WiFi module 32 capable oflong-distance and high-speed wireless communication as compared with theNFC module 31.

The operation of the NFC module 31 is controlled based on an NFC controlsignal NCc input from the printing unit 10 via the cable 310, andinformation input to the NFC module 31 as a wireless signal is output tothe printing unit 10 via the cable 310 as an NFC reception signal NCo.Such an NFC module 31 that performs wireless communication at a shortdistance of several cm to several tens of cm is used, for example, foran authentication function for correlating a user who executed theprinting operation with the medium on which the printing operation isexecuted when the printing device 1 is shared by a plurality of users.

The operation of the WiFi module 32 capable of long-distance andhigh-speed wireless communication is controlled based on a WiFi controlsignal WFc input from the printing unit 10 via a cable 320, andinformation input to the WiFi module 32 as a wireless signal is outputto the printing unit 10 via the cable 320 as a WiFi reception signalWFo. Such a WiFi module 32 capable of long-distance and high-speedwireless communication also functions as an interface circuit thatconnects the printing device 1 with an external device such as apersonal computer that outputs image information to be printed on themedium by the printing device 1 by a wireless signal.

Here, the NFC module 31 and the WiFi module 32 may be detachable fromthe printing device 1 by being communicably connected by, for example,universal serial bus (USB) communication. That is, the printing device 1includes a connection terminal to which at least one of the NFC module31 and the WiFi module 32 can be attached.

The printing unit 10 includes a relay circuit board 100, a main circuitboard 110, a head circuit board 120, a plurality of ejection heads 130,a medium transport control unit 140, and a transport motor 150.

The main circuit board 110 includes a main control circuit 111 thatoutputs a control signal for controlling each portion of the printingdevice 1. The main control circuit 111 includes a system on a chip (SoC)including a central processing unit (CPU).

The main control circuit 111 outputs a unit control signal UC forcontrolling the operation of the panel unit 20 and the wirelesscommunication unit 30. The unit control signal UC is input to a signalconversion circuit 101 in the relay circuit board 100 via a cable 191.The signal conversion circuit 101 generates the panel control signal PNcfor controlling the panel unit 20, the NFC control signal NCc forcontrolling the NFC module 31, and the WiFi control signal WFc forcontrolling the WiFi module 32 based on the unit control signal UC inputfrom the main control circuit 111, and outputs the panel control signalPNc, the NFC control signal NCc, and the WiFi control signal WFc to thepanel unit 20, the NFC module 31, and the WiFi module 32, respectively.

Further, the panel operation signal PNo output by the panel unit 20, theNFC reception signal NCo output by the NFC module 31, and the WiFireception signal WFo output by the WiFi module 32 are input to thesignal conversion circuit 101. Then, the signal conversion circuit 101generates a unit output signal UO based on the input panel operationsignal PNo, NFC reception signal NCo, and WiFi reception signal WFo, andoutputs the unit output signal UO to the main control circuit 111.

Here, the signal conversion circuit 101 may be configured as oneintegrated circuit device, or may be configured as a plurality ofintegrated circuit devices corresponding to each of the panel unit 20,the NFC module 31, and the WiFi module 32. Further, the unit controlsignal UC and the unit output signal UO propagating between the signalconversion circuit 101 and the main control circuit 111 may be aplurality of signals corresponding to each of the panel unit 20, the NFCmodule 31, and the WiFi module 32. That is, the main control circuit 111may output a plurality of signals corresponding to each of the panelcontrol signal PNc, the NFC control signal NCc, and the WiFi controlsignal WFc as the unit control signal UC to the signal conversioncircuit 101, and the signal conversion circuit 101 may output aplurality of signals corresponding to each of the panel operation signalPNo, the NFC reception signal NCo, and the WiFi reception signal WFo asthe unit output signal UO to the main control circuit 111.

Further, the main control circuit 111 transports the medium on which theprinting operation is executed based on the unit output signal UO inputfrom the signal conversion circuit 101. Specifically, the main controlcircuit 111 generates a transport control signal PT for transporting themedium on which the printing operation is executed, and outputs thetransport control signal PT to the medium transport control unit 140 viaa cable 194. The medium transport control unit 140 generates a drivecontrol signal for controlling the drive of the transport motor 150based on the input transport control signal PT, and outputs the drivecontrol signal to the transport motor 150. Thereby, the transport motor150 is driven, and the medium is transported along a predeterminedtransport direction as the transport motor 150 is driven.

Further, the main control circuit 111 generates a print control signalPC for performing printing on the medium based on the unit output signalUO input from the signal conversion circuit 101, and outputs the printcontrol signal PC to the head circuit board 120 via the cable 192.

The print control signal PC is input to a head control circuit 121 inthe head circuit board 120. The head control circuit 121 generates aprint data signal DATA corresponding to each of the plurality ofejection heads 130 having a plurality of nozzles for ejecting ink to themedium based on the input print control signal PC, and supplies theprint data signal DATA to the corresponding ejection head 130. Further,the head control circuit 121 generates a basic drive signal dA which isa basis of a drive signal COM based on the print control signal PC inputfrom the signal conversion circuit 101, and outputs the basic drivesignal dA to the drive circuit 122. Then, the drive circuit 122generates a drive signal COM having a waveform defined by the basicdrive signal dA supplied from the head control circuit 121, and outputsthe drive signal COM to the plurality of ejection heads 130.

Each of the plurality of ejection heads 130 includes a plurality ofnozzles for ejecting ink to the medium, and a plurality of driveelements that correspond to each of the plurality of nozzles and drivethe ink to be ejected from the corresponding nozzles by being suppliedwith the drive signal COM. Each of the plurality of ejection heads 130is electrically coupled to the head circuit board 120 via a cable 193.Each of the ejection heads 130 supplies the drive signal COM to thedrive element corresponding to the nozzle that ejects ink to the mediumamong the plurality of nozzles and does not supply the drive signal COMto the drive element corresponding to the nozzle that does not eject inkto the medium among the plurality of nozzles by switching whether or notto supply the drive signal COM supplied from the drive circuit 122 toeach of the plurality of drive elements based on the print data signalDATA supplied from the head control circuit 121. Thereby, ink is ejectedonly from the nozzle corresponding to the drive element to which thedrive signal COM is supplied, and ink is not ejected from the nozzlecorresponding to the drive element to which the drive signal COM is notsupplied. That is, the plurality of ejection heads 130 eject ink attimings defined by the print data signal DATA and from the nozzlesdesignated by the print data signal DATA by switching whether or not tosupply the drive signal COM to each of the plurality of drive elementsbased on the print data signal DATA output by the head control circuit121.

As described above, in the printing device 1 according to the presentembodiment, the main control circuit 111 controls the transport of themedium via the medium transport control unit 140, and also controls theoperation of the head control circuit 121 in the head circuit board 120based on the operation information input from the panel unit 20 and thewireless communication unit 30. Thereby, a nozzle that ejects ink to themedium and a nozzle that does not eject ink are selected. That is, themain control circuit 111 controls both the transport of the medium andthe ejection timing of the ink. Thereby, the ejection head 130 can landthe ink at a desired position on the medium. That is, dots are formed ata desired position on the medium. Thereby, the printing device 1 printsa desired image on the medium.

Here, in the following description, a configuration including the headcircuit board 120, the plurality of ejection heads 130, the mediumtransport control unit 140, and the transport motor 150, which executeprinting operations on the medium under the control of the main circuitboard 110, may be collectively referred to as a printing mechanism 160.That is, the printing unit 10 includes the printing mechanism 160 thatexecutes a printing operation of printing an image on a medium accordingto the operation information input by a user operating the panel unit 20or the wireless communication unit 30, and the main circuit board 110including the main control circuit 111 that outputs the unit controlsignal UC for controlling the operation of the panel unit 20 and thewireless communication unit 30 and that controls the operation of theprinting mechanism 160 according to the unit output signal UO based onthe panel operation signal PNo, the NFC reception signal NCo, and theWiFi reception signal WFo output by the panel unit 20 and the wirelesscommunication unit 30.

The printing device 1 may have a USB port, a local area network (LAN)port, or the like for connecting the printing device 1 and an externaldevice by a LAN cable or a USB cable, and further, the printing device 1may be able to read image information stored in a storage medium such asa hard disk or a flash memory connected to the USB port, the LAN port,or the like by the operation of the panel unit 20 by the user, and toexecute a printing operation based on the read information. Further, theprinting device 1 may include a scanner unit that acquires imageinformation formed on the medium. That is, the printing device 1 may bea so-called multifunction device capable of forming an image on a mediumand acquiring the image formed on the medium.

Here, the main control circuit 111 in the main circuit board 110 is anexample of a processor.

2. Functional Configuration of Panel Unit

Next, a functional configuration of the panel unit 20 will be described.FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the functional configurationof the panel unit 20. As shown in FIG. 2, the panel unit 20 includes apanel circuit board 200, a display panel 220, a position detectionsensor 230, a sensor drive circuit 240, a display circuit board 250, anda switch circuit board 260.

The panel circuit board 200 includes a panel control circuit 201.Further, the panel control circuit 201 includes a display controlcircuit 212 that controls the display panel 220 and a sensor controlcircuit 214 that controls the position detection sensor 230. Then, thepanel control circuit 201 controls the display panel 220, the positiondetection sensor 230, the sensor drive circuit 240, the display circuitboard 250, and the switch circuit board 260 based on the panel controlsignal PNc input from the printing unit 10, and outputs signals outputby the display panel 220, the position detection sensor 230, the sensordrive circuit 240, the display circuit board 250, and the switch circuitboard 260 as the panel operation signal PNo to the printing unit 10.Such a panel control circuit 201 is configured as one or more integratedcircuit devices. The display circuit board 250 and the switch circuitboard 260 may be electrically coupled to the relay circuit board 100without going through the panel control circuit 201.

The display control circuit 212 outputs a control signal Ctrl thatdefines the operation of the display panel 220 and an image signal Vidindicating an image to be displayed on the display panel 220 to thedisplay panel 220 via a cable 291. Thereby, the display control circuit212 controls the display panel 220 so that an image based on the imagesignal Vid is displayed. Here, the image signal Vid may be an analogsignal or a digital signal.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of thedisplay panel 220. As shown in FIG. 3, the display panel 220 includes apixel portion 221 provided with a plurality of pixels Px, and a pixeldrive portion 222 that drives the pixel portion 221.

The pixel portion 221 includes M rows of scanning lines 225 extending ina first direction, which is a horizontal direction in FIG. 3, and Ncolumns of data lines 226 extending in a second direction, which is avertical direction in FIG. 3 orthogonal to the first direction. Then,the pixel portion 221 includes M×N pixels Px provided in a matrix of Ncolumns in the first direction and M rows in the second directioncorresponding to intersections at which the M rows of scanning lines 225and the N columns of data lines 226 intersect with each other.

The pixel drive portion 222 includes a scanning line drive circuit 223and a data line drive circuit 224. The scanning line drive circuit 223generates a selection signal Gw[m] for selecting the scanning line 225in the m-th row based on the control signal Ctrl. Then, the scanningline drive circuit 223 outputs the selection signal Gw[m] (m is anatural number satisfying 1≤m≤M) in an m-th horizontal scanning periodamong M horizontal scanning periods included in a frame period definedby the control signal Ctrl. Thereby, the scanning line drive circuit 223can sequentially select the scanning lines 225 in the first row to theM-th row in the frame period.

The data line drive circuit 224 generates a gradation designation signalVd[n] (n is a natural number satisfying 1≤n≤N) that designates agradation to be displayed in the pixel Px based on the image signal Vid,and outputs the gradation designation signal Vd[n] for the data line 226in the n-th column in the m-th horizontal scanning period in which thescanning line drive circuit 223 selects the scanning line 225 in them-th row. In the present embodiment, the image signal Vid is a signalincluding gradation designation signals Vd[1] to Vd[N].

In this way, in the m-th horizontal scanning period, by outputting theselection signal Gw[m] for selecting the scanning line 225 in the m-throw and outputting the gradation designation signal Vd[n] for the dataline 226 in the n-th column, the pixel drive portion 222 can display thegradation designated by the gradation designation signal Vd[n] on thepixel Px in the m-th row and the n-th column. As such a display panel220, for example, a thin flat panel such as a liquid crystal display(LCD) panel or an electro luminescence (EL) panel can be used.

Referring back to FIG. 2, the sensor control circuit 214 outputs acontrol signal Ctr2 that defines the operation of the sensor drivecircuit 240 to the sensor drive circuit 240, which is an integratedcircuit device which is chip on film (COF)-mounted on a cable 292. Thesensor drive circuit 240 generates a control signal Ctr-S forcontrolling the drive of the position detection sensor 230 based on theinput control signal Ctr2, and outputs the control signal Ctr-S to theposition detection sensor 230. That is, the sensor control circuit 214controls the drive of the position detection sensor 230 via the sensordrive circuit 240. When the position detection sensor 230 is driven bythe control signal Ctr-S, the position detection sensor 230 detects thecontact of an object such as a finger or a pen with the positiondetection sensor 230. Then, the position detection sensor 230 generatesa detection signal VSS indicating a result of the detection and outputsthe detection signal to the sensor drive circuit 240. The sensor drivecircuit 240 calculates a contact position of the object with respect tothe position detection sensor 230 based on the detection signal VSS, andgenerates a contact position signal ISS indicating the contact position.The sensor drive circuit 240 outputs the generated contact positionsignal ISS to the sensor control circuit 214.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of theposition detection sensor 230 and the sensor drive circuit 240. As shownin FIG. 4, the position detection sensor 230 includes Q×R sensors Tsprovided in a matrix of Q columns in a third direction, which is thehorizontal direction in FIG. 4, and R rows in a fourth direction, whichis the vertical direction in FIG. 4 orthogonal to the third direction,and Q×R detection lines 231 corresponding to the Q×R sensors Ts in aone-to-one manner.

Each of sensors Ts includes a capacitive element. Then, when an objectcomes into contact with the sensor Ts, the potentials of two electrodesof the capacitive elements provided corresponding to the sensor Tsfluctuate.

The sensor drive circuit 240 generates a control signal Ctr-S based onthe control signal Ctr2, and outputs the generated control signal Ctr-Sto the position detection sensor 230. Here, the control signal Ctr-S isa signal instructing the sensor Ts[q][r] in the q-th row and r-th columnto output a detection signal Vs[q][r] indicating the potential of one ofthe two electrodes of each sensor Ts to the detection line 231 providedcorresponding to the sensor Ts[q][r]. Thereby, the sensor drive circuit240 can receive Q×R detection signals Vs supplied from the Q×R sensorsTs. The detection signal VSS described above is, for example, a signalincluding Q×R detection signals Vs. Then, the sensor drive circuit 240generates a contact position signal ISS based on the Q×R detectionsignals Vs included in the detection signal VSS, and outputs thegenerated contact position signal ISS to the panel control circuit 201.That is, the position detection sensor 230 in the present embodiment isa so-called capacitive sensor that calculates the contact position of anobject according to a change in the potential of the capacitive elementof the sensor Ts.

Referring back to FIG. 2, the display circuit board 250 includes a lightemitting element 251. Then, the panel control circuit 201 outputs alight emission control signal LC for controlling the light emittingelement 251 in the display circuit board 250. The light emitting element251 turns on, turns off, or blinks according to the operating state ofthe printing device 1. That is, the light emitting element 251 iselectrically coupled to the panel circuit board 200 and displays theoperating states of the printing device 1 and the printing unit 10, andthe display circuit board 250 includes the light emitting element 251that displays the operating states of the printing device 1 and theprinting unit 10. Although FIG. 2 shows only the case where the displaycircuit board 250 includes one light emitting element 251, the displaycircuit board 250 may include a plurality of light emitting elements251. Further, as such a light emitting element 251, for example, a lightemitting diode (LED) element can be used.

The switch circuit board 260 includes a switch 261. When the switch 261is pressed, a switch control signal SU is supplied to the panel controlcircuit 201. Then, the panel control circuit 201 activates the printingdevice 1 according to the logic level, time, and the like of the switchcontrol signal SU, and also stops the operation of the printing device1. That is, the switch 261 is electrically coupled to the panel circuitboard 200 and activates the printing device 1 and the printing unit 10,and the switch circuit board 260 includes the switch 261 that activatesthe printing device 1 and the printing unit 10.

As described above, the panel unit 20 includes the display panel 220that displays various types of information, the position detectionsensor 230 that detects the contact position of an object such as afinger or a pen, the panel circuit board 200 on which the panel controlcircuit 201 electrically coupled to the position detection sensor 230and the display panel 220 is mounted, the cable 292 that electricallycouples the position detection sensor 230 and the panel circuit board200 to each other, the display circuit board 250 including the lightemitting element 251 that is electrically coupled to the panel controlcircuit 201 mounted on the panel circuit board 200 and displays theoperating state of the printing device 1 including the printing unit 10,and the switch circuit board 260 including the switch 261 that iselectrically coupled to the panel control circuit 201 mounted on thepanel circuit board 200 and activates the printing device 1 includingthe printing unit 10.

3. Structure of Printing Device

Next, the structure of the printing device 1 will be described. Here, indescribing the structure of the printing device 1, the front-reardirection of the printing device 1 may be referred to as an X direction,the left-right direction of the printing device 1 may be referred to asa Y direction, and the vertical direction, which is the up-downdirection of the printing device 1, may be referred to as a Z direction.Further, when the orientations of the X direction, the Y direction, andthe Z direction are specified, the tip end side of the arrow indicatingthe X direction shown in the drawing may be referred to as a +X side,and the starting point side thereof may be referred to as a −X side, thetip end side of the arrow indicating the Y direction shown in thedrawing may be referred to as a +Y side, and the starting point sidethereof may be referred to as a −Y side, and the tip end side of thearrow indicating the Z direction shown in the drawing may be referred toas a +Z side, and the starting point side thereof may be referred to asa −Z side.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an external structure of the printing device1. As shown in FIG. 5, the printing device 1 includes the printing unit10 and the panel unit 20.

The printing unit 10 includes a medium accommodating portion 141, amedium discharge tray 149, and a housing 170. The medium accommodatingportion 141 forms an accommodating space in which the medium before theprinting operation is executed is accommodated. Specifically, the mediumaccommodating portion 141 is located on the +Z side of the housing 170,and is attached so that at least a part of the accommodating space canbe pulled out inside the housing 170. The medium discharge tray 149 islocated on the −Z side of the housing 170, and the medium after theprinting operation is executed is discharged.

In the printing device 1 configured as described above, when theprinting operation is executed by the user operating the panel unit 20,the printing operation is executed on the medium during a period inwhich the medium accommodated in the medium accommodating portion 141 istransported inside the housing 170 and the medium is transported insidethe housing 170. Then, the medium after the printing operation isexecuted is discharged to the medium discharge tray 149.

Here, the internal structure of the housing 170 included in the printingunit 10 will be described. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of theinternal structure of the housing 170. As shown in FIG. 6, the housing170 stores the relay circuit board 100, the main circuit board 110, theprinting mechanism 160, and the wireless communication unit 30.Specifically, the wireless communication unit 30 is located along theside surface on the −X side of the housing 170, and the relay circuitboard 100 is located along the side surface on the −X side of thehousing 170 and on the −Z side of the wireless communication unit 30.Further, the main circuit board 110 is located along the side surface onthe +X side of the housing 170. The printing mechanism 160 that executesa printing operation on the transported medium is located between thewireless communication unit 30 and the relay circuit board 100 and themain circuit board 110.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a transport path of the mediumtransported by the printing mechanism 160 provided inside the housing170. As shown in FIG. 7, transport rollers 142, 143, and 144 areprovided inside the housing 170. Each of the transport rollers 142 to144 includes a driving roller and a driven roller, and is a pair ofrollers. Then, the transport rollers 142 to 144 pinch the medium betweenthe driving roller and the driven roller, and the driving roller isrotated by the drive of the transport motor 150 described above, so thatthe medium is transported along a predetermined transport direction.

Specifically, the medium accommodated in the medium accommodatingportion 141 is discharged one by one by the transport roller 142. Sincethe transport roller 142 discharges the medium accommodated in themedium accommodating portion 141 one by one, for example, the transportroller 142 may be provided so as to apply pressure to the medium fromthe −Z side to the +Z side along the Z direction. The medium dischargedfrom the medium accommodating portion 141 is transported to a print areaPA facing the ejection head 130 along the transport path in a state ofbeing pinched by the transport roller 143. When the medium reaches theprint area PA, the ejection head 130 ejects ink to the medium at atiming based on the print data signal DATA. After that, the medium onwhich the ink has landed is transported toward the medium discharge tray149 along the transport path in a state of being pinched by thetransport roller 144, and is discharged from the inside of the housing170 to the medium discharge tray 149.

Referring back to FIG. 5, the panel unit 20 is the side surface on the−X side of the housing 170 and is rotatably attached to the +Z side inthe printing device 1.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for describing an example of an attachment state ofthe panel unit 20 attached to the housing 170. As shown in FIG. 8, thepanel unit 20 is rotatably attached to the housing 170 via an attachmentportion AR. Specifically, in the present embodiment, the panel unit 20is rotatably attached to the housing 170 of the printing unit 10 withthe attachment portion AR as a rotation axis within the range of amovable range RM so as to take an attachment state α in which a displaysurface 227 of the display panel 220 described above and the positiondetection sensor 230 extend along a plane formed by the X direction,which is the front-rear direction of the printing device 1, and the Ydirection, which is the left-right direction of the printing device 1,and an attachment state β in which the display surface 227 of thedisplay panel 220 described above and the position detection sensor 230extend along a plane formed by the Y direction, which is the left-rightdirection of the printing device 1, and the Z direction, which is theup-down direction and the vertical direction of the printing device 1.

That is, the panel unit 20 is rotatably attached to the housing 170 soas to take the attachment state a in which the displayed contents of thedisplay panel 220 of the panel unit 20 can be visually recognized by theuser and the contents of the display panel 220 can be visuallyrecognized when the panel unit 20 is viewed from the upper side to thelower side of the printing device 1, that is, from the −Z side to the +Zside, and the attachment state β in which the contents of the displaypanel 220 can be visually recognized by the user when the panel unit 20is viewed from the front to the rear of the printing device 1, that is,from the −X side to the +X side.

Here, in view of improving the convenience of the user who operates theprinting device 1, the movable range RM of the panel unit 20 rotatablyattached to the housing 170 is preferably wide, specifically, it ispreferable that in the attachment state α, a normal direction of thedisplay surface 227 of the display panel 220 and the position detectionsensor 230 is upward along the substantially vertical direction andfaces the +Z side of the printing device 1, and in the attachment stateβ, the normal direction of the display surface 227 of the display panel220 and the position detection sensor 230 faces the −X side of theprinting device 1 corresponding to the user side where the user islocated in the printing device 1 along the horizontal direction.

However, the movable range RM of the panel unit 20 rotatably attached tothe housing 170 is not limited to the above-mentioned range, and theinformation displayed on the display panel 220 of the panel unit 20provided so as to be rotatable by the user who operates the printingdevice 1 may be rotatable within a visible range. Specifically, in theattachment state α, an angle formed by a plane extending in thehorizontal direction and formed by the X direction and the Y directionand a direction in which the display panel 220 and the positiondetection sensor 230 of the panel unit 20 extend may be 45 degrees orless, and in the attachment state β, the angle formed by the planeextending in the horizontal direction and formed by the X direction andthe Y direction and the direction in which the display panel 220 and theposition detection sensor 230 of the panel unit 20 extend may be 45degrees or more.

That is, the panel unit 20 may be rotatably attached to the housing 170of the printing unit 10 so as to take the attachment state α in whichthe angle formed by the horizontal direction and a normal direction ofthe display panel 220 and the position detection sensor 230 is largerthan the angle formed by the vertical direction and the normal directionof the display panel 220 and the position detection sensor 230 and theattachment state β in which the angle formed by the horizontal directionand the normal direction of the display panel 220 and the positiondetection sensor 230 is smaller than the angle formed by the verticaldirection and the normal direction of the display panel 220 and theposition detection sensor 230. Here, the attachment state a is anexample of a first attachment state, and the attachment state β is anexample of a second attachment state.

Next, an example of a specific structure of the panel unit 20 rotatablyattached to the housing 170 as described above will be described. FIG. 9is a diagram for describing the structure of the panel unit 20. Here, indescribing the structure of the panel unit 20, in the followingdescription, an x direction, a y direction, and a z direction which areindependent of the above-mentioned X direction, Y direction, and Zdirection and are orthogonal to each other are used. Further, when theorientations of the x direction, the y direction, and the z directionare specified, the tip end side of the arrow indicating the x directionshown in the drawing may be referred to as a +x side, and the startingpoint side thereof may be referred to as a −x side, the tip end side ofthe arrow indicating the y direction shown in the drawing may bereferred to as a +y side, and the starting point side thereof may bereferred to as a −y side, and the tip end side of the arrow indicatingthe z direction shown in the drawing may be referred to as a +z side,and the starting point side thereof may be referred to as a −z side.

As shown in FIG. 9, the panel unit 20 includes a cover glass 270 and apanel housing 280 in addition to the panel circuit board 200, thedisplay panel 220, the position detection sensor 230, the displaycircuit board 250, and the switch circuit board 260 described above.

The position detection sensor 230 is a substantially rectangularplate-shaped member extending in a plane formed by the x direction andthe y direction, and is a so-called capacitive sensor that calculatesthe contact position of an object according to a change in the potentialof the capacitive element as described above. The cable 292 on which thesensor drive circuit 240 is COF-mounted is attached to the side of theposition detection sensor 230 on the −x side.

The cover glass 270 is located on the −z side of the position detectionsensor 230. The cover glass 270 is a substantially rectangularplate-shaped member having the same size as the position detectionsensor 230 and extending in a plane formed by the x direction and the ydirection, and is fixed to the position detection sensor 230 with anadhesive (not shown) or the like so as to be laminated. The cover glass270 functions as a protective member that protects the positiondetection sensor 230 from scratches and impacts. Here, in the followingdescription, a configuration in which the position detection sensor 230and the cover glass 270 are laminated and fixed with an adhesive or thelike is referred to as a touch sensor 400. The touch sensor 400 in whichthe position detection sensor 230 and the cover glass 270 are laminatedis an example of a capacitive touch sensor.

Here, an example of the structure of the touch sensor 400 will bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11. FIG. 10 is a view of thetouch sensor 400 when viewed from the −z side, and FIG. 11 is a view ofthe touch sensor 400 when viewed from the +z side. That is, FIG. 10corresponds to a view of the touch sensor 400 when viewed from thesurface of the cover glass 270 side, and FIG. 11 corresponds to a viewof the touch sensor 400 when viewed from the position detection sensor230 side.

As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the touch sensor 400 has a substantiallyrectangular shape including a side 401, a side 402 located on the +xside of the side 401 and facing the side 401 along the x direction, aside 403 intersecting both the side 401 and the side 402, and, and aside 404 located on the +y side of the side 403 and facing the side 403along the y direction. Here, the side 401 is an example of a first side,the side 402 is an example of a second side, the side 403 is an exampleof a third side, and the side 404 is an example of a fourth side.

As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the cable 292 is electrically coupled tothe side 401 of the touch sensor 400. Then, the sensor drive circuit 240is COF-mounted on the −z side surface of the cable 292 and a metal plate241 is located in an area located facing the COF-mounted sensor drivecircuit 240, which is the surface of the cable 292 on the +z side.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the touch sensor 400 includes anoperation area 410 that receives an input of operation information bythe user and a frame area 420 that is provided around the operation area410 and does not receive the input of the operation information by theuser.

The operation area 410 is provided with transparent wiring (not shown)formed of, for example, indium tin oxide (ITO), and includes theabove-described Q×R sensors Ts provided in a matrix with the x directionas the third direction and the y direction as the fourth direction. Onthe other hand, as shown in FIG. 11, the frame area 420 of the positiondetection sensor 230 is provided with a detection line 231 thatelectrically couples each of the Q×R sensors Ts provided in theoperation area 410 to the sensor drive circuit 240. That is, in theframe area 420, a wiring for propagating the signal detected in theoperation area 410 by the operation of the user is located. Further, asshown in FIG. 10, the frame area 420 of the cover glass 270 is colored,for example, black. Thereby, the boundary between the operation area 410and the frame area 420 can be clearly notified to the user. The framearea 420 of the cover glass 270 may not be colored, or may be colored ina color other than black.

In the touch sensor 400 configured as described above, generally, fromthe viewpoint of securing a large operation area 410 operated by theuser and from the viewpoint of the design of the panel unit 20, it isrequired to make the frame area 420 as narrow as possible. However, whenthe area of the frame area 420 provided around the operation area 410 isreduced, a possibility that disturbance noise such as static electricitywill enter from the end of the cover glass 270 is increased, and as aresult, a possibility that the position detection sensor 230 maymalfunction is increased.

In response to such a problem, in the touch sensor 400 of the presentembodiment, in the frame area 420, a size of a frame area 421 locatedalong the side 401 in the x direction is made larger than a size of aframe area 422 located along the side 402 in the x direction, the sizeof the frame area 421 located along the side 401 in the x direction ismade larger than a size of a frame area 423 located along the side 403in the y direction, or the size of the frame area 421 located along theside 401 in the x direction is made larger than a size of a frame area424 located along the side 404 in the y direction. That is, the framearea 420 provided along at least one side in the frame area 420 that isprovided around the operation area 410 and does not receive the input ofthe operation information by the user is made larger than the frame area420 provided along the other side. Thereby, it is possible to reduce thepossibility that disturbance noise such as static electricity will enterfrom the vicinity of the side 401 while reducing the possibility thatthe area of the operation area 410 becomes small.

Here, the frame area 421 is an example of a first frame area, the framearea 422 is an example of a second frame area, the frame area 423 is anexample of a third frame area, and the frame area 424 is an example of afourth frame area.

Referring back to FIG. 9, the display panel 220 is located on the +zside of the position detection sensor 230 so that the display surface227 is on the −z side. Such a display panel 220 is a substantiallyrectangular plate-shaped member extending in a plane formed by the xdirection and the y direction, and the size of the display surface 227of the display panel 220 overlaps at least the operation area 410. Then,in the display panel 220, the entire area of the operation area 410overlaps the display surface 227 in the direction along the z direction.That is, the position detection sensor 230 and the display panel 220 arelaminated along the z direction. In addition, the cable 291 electricallycoupled to the panel circuit board 200 is electrically coupled to theside of the display panel 220 on the −x side.

Here, in the following description, a configuration in which the touchsensor 400 including the position detection sensor 230 and the displaypanel 220 are laminated along the z direction is referred to as a touchpanel 500. In the present embodiment, as described above, the positiondetection sensor 230 is a capacitive sensor. That is, the touch sensor400 in the present embodiment is a capacitive touch sensor, and thetouch panel 500 including the touch sensor 400, which is a capacitivetouch sensor, and the display panel 220 is a capacitive touch panel.That is, the touch sensor 400 of the panel unit 20 of the presentembodiment has a configuration in which the position detection sensor230 and the cover glass 270 are laminated, and the touch panel 500 has aconfiguration in which the position detection sensor 230, the coverglass 270, and the display panel 220 are laminated.

The panel circuit board 200 is located on the +z side of the displaypanel 220. Then, the panel control circuit 201 in the panel circuitboard 200 controls the operation of the touch panel 500 including thedisplay panel 220 and the position detection sensor 230. Specifically,the panel circuit board 200 is electrically coupled to the display panel220 via the cable 291 and is electrically coupled to the positiondetection sensor 230 via the cable 292. Then, the panel control circuit201 provided on the panel circuit board 200 controls the operation ofthe display panel 220 via the cable 291 and controls the operation ofthe position detection sensor 230 via the cable 292.

The display circuit board 250 is located on the −x side of the panelcircuit board 200. Three light emitting elements 251 are provided on thesurface of the display circuit board 250 on the −z side. Further, theswitch circuit board 260 is located on the −x side of the panel circuitboard 200 and on the −y side of the display circuit board 250. Theswitch 261 is provided on the surface of the switch circuit board 260 onthe −z side. The display circuit board 250 is electrically coupled tothe panel circuit board 200 via a cable 293, and the switch circuitboard 260 is electrically coupled to the panel circuit board 200 via acable 294.

The panel housing 280 has a substantially rectangular parallelepipedshape having a storage space 289 with one surface on the −z side open,and is composed of a forming member obtained by molding, for example,resin or the like. The touch panel 500, the panel circuit board 200, thedisplay circuit board 250, and the switch circuit board 260 describedabove are stored in the storage space 289 of the panel housing 280. Inthis case, the cover glass 270 of the touch panel 500 is provided so asto cover an open surface of the storage space 289.

Here, the structure of the panel unit 20 in a state where the positiondetection sensor 230, the display panel 220, the panel circuit board200, the display circuit board 250, and the switch circuit board 260 arestored in the panel housing 280 will be described. FIG. 12 is a view ofthe panel unit 20 when viewed from the −z side, FIG. 13 is a view of thepanel unit 20 when viewed from the −x side, and FIG. 14 is a view of thepanel unit 20 when viewed from the +y side.

As shown in FIG. 12, the touch sensor 400 is stored in the panel housing280 so that the side 401 and the side 402 face each other along the xdirection so that the side 401 is on the −x side and the side 402 is onthe +x side, and the side 403 and the side 404 face each other along they direction so that the side 403 is on the −y side and the side 404 ison the +y side. In other words, the touch sensor 400 is stored in thepanel housing 280 so that the frame area 421 and the frame area 422 faceeach other along the x direction so that the frame area 421 is on the −xside and the frame area 422 is on the +x side, and the frame area 423and the frame area 424 face each other along the y direction so that theframe area 423 is on the −y side and the frame area 424 is on the +yside.

As shown in FIG. 12, the panel housing 280 includes a housing sideportion 281 including a side surface extending along the side 401 of thetouch sensor 400 to be stored, a housing side portion 282 including aside surface extending along the side 402 of the touch sensor 400 to bestored, a housing side portion 283 including a side surface extendingalong the side 403 of the touch sensor 400 to be stored, and a housingside portion 284 including a side surface extending along the side 404of the touch sensor 400 to be stored. That is, the storage space 289 ofthe panel housing 280 includes at least the housing side portions 281,282, 283, and 284.

Then, as shown in FIG. 12, a size of the housing side portion 281 in thedirection from the side 401 to the side 402 and in the direction alongthe x direction is larger than a size of the housing side portion 282 inthe direction from the side 401 to the side 402 and in the directionalong the x direction, a size of the housing side portion 283 in thedirection from the side 403 to the side 404 and in the direction alongthe y direction is smaller than the size of the housing side portion 281in the direction from the side 401 to the side 402 and in the directionalong the x direction, and a size of the housing side portion 282 in thedirection from the side 403 to the side 404 and in the direction alongthe y direction is smaller than the size of the housing side portion 281in the direction from the side 401 to the side 402 and in the directionalong the x direction. That is, the size of the housing side portion 281located along the largest frame area 421 in the frame area 420 of thetouch sensor 400 is larger than the size of each of the housing sideportions 282, 283, and 284.

Here, the housing side portion 281 is an example of a first sideportion, the housing side portion 282 is an example of a second sideportion, the housing side portion 283 is an example of a third sideportion, and the housing side portion 284 is an example of a fourth sideportion.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, in the panel unit 20, theattachment portion AR is provided at the central portion of a bottomsurface 285 of the panel housing 280 located facing the cover glass 270.Specifically, in the panel unit 20 including the panel housing 280 inwhich the touch sensor 400 is stored, the attachment portion AR is aprotrusion that is located at the central portion of the panel housing280 in the direction from the side 401 to the side 402, that is, thedirection along the x direction, and extends along the y direction. Thepanel unit 20 is rotatably attached to the printing unit 10 by rotatablyattaching the attachment portion AR to the housing 170. That is, thepanel unit 20 is rotatably attached to the printing unit 10 at thecentral portion of the panel housing 280 in the direction from the side401 to the side 402.

Here, the fact that the attachment portion AR is located at the centralportion of the panel housing 280 in the direction from the side 401 tothe side 402, that is, the direction along the x direction means that,preferably, when the panel unit 20 is viewed along the z direction, atleast a part of the attachment portion AR is located so as to overlap apoint where a distance between the side surface on the −x side and theside surface on the +x side of the panel housing 280 is equal. However,the attachment portion AR may be located at least in an area between afirst virtual straight line where a distance between a virtual straightline having the same distance between the side surface on the −x sideand the side surface on the +x side of the panel housing 280 and theside surface on the −x side of the panel housing 280 is equal and asecond virtual straight line where a distance between the virtualstraight line having the same distance between the side surface on the−x side and the side surface on the +x side of the panel housing 280 andthe side surface on the +x side of the panel housing 280 is equal.

That is, the central portion of the panel housing 280 in the directionfrom the side 401 to the side 402, that is, the direction along the xdirection means the area between the above-mentioned first virtualstraight line and the above-mentioned second virtual straight line.

Then, the panel unit 20 and the printing unit 10 are electricallycoupled to each other by inserting the cable 210 into the attachmentportion AR. That is, the panel circuit board 200 and the main circuitboard 110 are electrically coupled to each other by a cable 210 which isa wiring for inserting the inside of the attachment portion AR to whichthe panel unit 20 is rotatably attached to the printing unit 10.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, a display window 286 and anoperation switch 287 are provided on the housing side portion 281 of thepanel housing 280.

The display window 286 is a resin member that transmits light, forexample, a transparent color or a milky white color, and is located onthe +y side of the housing side portion 281 so that at least a part ofthe panel unit 20 can be visually recognized when the panel unit 20 isviewed from the −z side along the z direction. In the storage space 289of the panel housing 280 where the display window 286 is located, thelight emitting element 251 of the display circuit board 250 stored inthe panel housing 280 is located. Then, when the light emitting element251 is turned on, turned off, or blinks according to the operating stateof the printing device 1, the light generated by the light emittingelement 251 is notified to the outside of the panel unit 20 via thedisplay window 286.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a cross section of the panelunit 20 when the panel unit 20 is cut so as to pass through the displaywindow 286 and the light emitting element 251, and is a diagram showinga cross section taken along line XV-XV of FIG. 12. As shown in FIG. 15,the display circuit board 250 is in the vicinity of the side surface onthe −x side of the panel housing 280, and at least a part thereof islocated inside the housing side portion 281. In addition, the displaywindow 286 is provided on the side surface on the −x side of the housingside portion 281, corresponding to the light emitting element 251 sothat at least a part thereof can be visually recognized from the −zside. Thereby, the user can recognize the turning-on, turning-off, orblinking of the light emitting element 251 via the display window 286,and can grasp the operating state of the printing device 1 notified byturning on, turning off, or blinking the light emitting element 251.That is, when the panel unit 20 is viewed in the direction along anormal direction of the touch sensor 400, the display window 286 and thelight emitting element 251 are provided at positions where the displayedcontents can be visually recognized. Thereby, even though the panel unit20 is rotatable, the user can grasp the operating state of the printingdevice 1 based on the turning-on, turning-off, or blinking of the lightemitting element 251. That is, the display circuit board 250 iselectrically coupled to the main circuit board 110 of the printing unit10 via the panel circuit board 200.

Here, in FIG. 15, it has been described that the display circuit board250 including the light emitting element 251 and the panel circuit board200 are coupled to each other via the cable 293, but the display circuitboard 250 and the panel circuit board 200 are connectors that directlycouple the circuit boards to each other, and may be electrically coupledwith a board to board (BtoB) connector.

As shown in FIG. 15, when the display circuit board 250 and the panelcircuit board 200 are electrically coupled to each other by a wiringsuch as a flexible flat cable, the display circuit board 250 and thepanel circuit board 200 can be coupled in a space-saving manner.However, the disposition of the display circuit board 250 may bemisaligned, and as a result, a sufficient amount of light may not beextracted from the display window 286. On the other hand, byelectrically coupling the display circuit board 250 and the panelcircuit board 200 with a BtoB connector, the disposition of the displaycircuit board 250 provided with the light emitting element 251 isuniquely determined based on the disposition of the panel circuit board200, and as a result, a possibility of misalignment of the displaycircuit board 250 is reduced.

Further, in the present embodiment, the display circuit board 250 andthe panel circuit board 200 have been described as different boards, butthe display circuit board 250 and the panel circuit board 200 may be thesame board.

Referring back to FIGS. 12 and 13, the operation switch 287 is locatedon the side surface of the panel housing 280 extending in a directionintersecting the extending direction of the display surface 227 of thedisplay panel 220, which is the end of the panel housing 280 when thepanel unit 20 is viewed from the −z side along the z direction and whenviewed from the direction along the normal direction of the touch sensor400. Then, when the user operates the operation switch 287, the switch261 of the switch circuit board 260 operates, whereby operationinformation of the user is input to the panel unit 20.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of a cross section of the panelunit 20 when the panel unit 20 is cut so as to pass through theoperation switch 287 and the switch 261, and is a diagram showing across section taken along line XVI-XVI of FIG. 12. As shown in FIG. 16,the switch circuit board 260 is in the vicinity of the side surface onthe −x side of the panel housing 280, and at least a part thereof islocated inside the housing side portion 281. In addition, the operationswitch 287 is in contact with the switch 261 inside the housing sideportion 281. Thereby, when the user presses the operation switch 287,the switch 261 is pressed in conjunction with the pressing of theoperation switch 287. Then, the logic level switch control signal SUgenerated when the switch 261 is pressed is supplied to the panelcontrol circuit 201 via the cable 294. Thereby, the printing device 1starts a predetermined operation when the user presses the operationswitch 287.

Further, the touch sensor 400 and the panel circuit board 200 arelocated in the vicinity of the housing side portion 281 which is the endof the panel housing 280, and are electrically coupled to each other bythe cable 292 between the display circuit board 250 and the switchcircuit board 260.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of a cross section of the panelunit 20 when the panel unit 20 is cut so as to pass through the cable292, and is a diagram showing a cross section taken along line XVII-XVIIof FIG. 12. As shown in FIG. 17, the cable 292 is located in thevicinity of the side surface on the −x side of the panel housing 280 andat least a part thereof is curved inside the housing side portion 281 toelectrically couple the touch sensor 400 and the panel circuit board 200provided in a laminated manner to each other. In other words, the cable292 is located between the light emitting element 251 and the switch 261in the direction along the side 401 of the panel unit 20 and is curvedto electrically couple the touch sensor 400 and the panel circuit board200 to each other.

In this case, the sensor drive circuit 240 which is COF-mounted on thecable 292 is mounted on the outer peripheral side of the curved cable292, and the metal plate 241 is located in an area facing the sensordrive circuit 240 which is COF-mounted on the cable 292 and on the innerperipheral side of the curved cable 292. Then, when the detection signalVSS generated by the contact of an object such as a finger or a pen withthe touch sensor 400 is input to the sensor drive circuit 240, thesensor drive circuit 240 generates the contact position signal ISS basedon the detection signal VSS and outputs the contact position signal ISSto the sensor control circuit 214 in the panel control circuit 201.

As described above, at least parts of the display circuit board 250including the light emitting element 251, the switch circuit board 260including the switch 261, and the cable 292 that electrically couplesthe touch sensor 400 and the panel circuit board 200 to each other areprovided on the housing side portion 281 of the panel housing 280, andthe switch circuit board 260, the cable 292, and the display circuitboard 250 are located side by side in this order along the side 401 ofthe touch sensor 400 and along the y direction, which is the directionfrom the side 403 to the side 404.

Then, the switch circuit board 260 has one side located along thehousing side portion 283 of the panel housing 280, the display circuitboard 250 has one side located along the housing side portion 284 of thepanel housing 280, and the cable 292 is located at the central portionof the panel housing 280 in the direction from the housing side portion283 to the housing side portion 284. In other words, the cable 292 islocated at the central portion of the panel housing 280 in the directionfrom the side 403 to the side 404, the switch circuit board 260 islocated closer to the side 403 than the cable 292, and the displaycircuit board 250 is located closer to the side 404 than the cable 292.

As described above, when the switch circuit board 260, the cable 292,and the display circuit board 250 are disposed side by side in order ofthe switch circuit board 260, the cable 292, and the display circuitboard 250 along the housing side portion 281 of the panel housing 280,the operation switch 287 operated by the user and the display window 286for notifying the user of information can be provided separately.Thereby, the possibility that the user erroneously recognizes theoperation switch 287 and the display window 286 is reduced, and theusability of the printing device 1 is improved.

Further, when the cable 292 is disposed between the switch circuit board260 and the display circuit board 250, the switch circuit board 260 isdisposed near the side 403 and near the housing side portion 283, thedisplay circuit board 250 is disposed near the side 404 and near thehousing side portion 284, and the cable 292 is disposed at the centralportion of the panel housing 280 in the direction from the housing sideportion 283 to the housing side portion 284, mutual interference ofsignals between the switch circuit board 260, the display circuit board250, and the cable 292 is reduced. As a result, a possibility ofmalfunction of the panel unit 20 and the printing device 1 is reduced.

As described above, the panel unit 20 includes the display panel 220,the touch sensor 400 in which the position detection sensor 230 and thecover glass 270 are laminated, the panel circuit board 200 electricallycoupled to the touch sensor 400, the cable 292 that electrically couplesthe touch sensor 400 and the panel circuit board 200 to each other, thelight emitting element 251 that is electrically coupled to the panelcircuit board 200 and displays the operating state of the printing unit10, the switch 261 that is electrically coupled to the panel circuitboard 200 and activates the printing unit 10, and the panel housing 280that stores the touch sensor 400, the panel circuit board 200, and thecable 292.

The panel unit 20 configured as described above is attached to theprinting unit 10 so that the side 401 of the touch sensor 400 is locatedon the −X side and the side 402 of the touch sensor 400 is located onthe +X side in the attachment state α in which the display surface 227of the display panel 220 and the position detection sensor 230 extendalong a plane formed by the X direction, which is the front-reardirection of the printing device 1, and the Y direction, which is theleft-right direction of the printing device 1, and is attached to theprinting unit 10 so that the side 401 of the touch sensor 400 is locatedon the +Z side and the side 402 of the touch sensor 400 is located onthe −Z side in the attachment state β in which the display surface 227of the display panel 220 described above and the position detectionsensor 230 extend along a plane formed by the Y direction, which is theleft-right direction of the printing device 1, and the Z direction,which is the up-down direction and the vertical direction of theprinting device 1. That is, when the panel unit 20 is in the attachmentstate β, the touch sensor 400 included in the touch panel 500 isdisposed so that the side 401 is lower than the side 402 in thedirection along the vertical direction. Thereby, the widest frame area421 in the frame area 420 that is provided around the operation area 410in the touch sensor 400 and does not receive the input of operationinformation by the user is located on the −X side in the attachmentstate α and on the +Z side in the attachment state β.

Here, in the printing device 1 as shown in FIG. 5, when the useroperates the panel unit 20, usually, the user operates the panel unit 20by locating in front of the panel unit 20 and on the −X side of theprinting device 1. That is, with the printing device 1 according to thepresent embodiment, when the panel unit 20 is in the attachment state β,the touch sensor 400 included in the touch panel 500 is disposed so thatthe side 401 is lower than the side 402 in the direction along thevertical direction. Thereby, the widest frame area 421 in the frame area420 that is provided around the operation area 410 in the touch sensor400 and does not receive the input of operation information by the useris located closest to the user.

When the user operates the panel unit 20, at the end of the panel unit20 on the user side, the user's clothes, the hypothenar eminence of thehand, the thumb ball, and the like unintentionally come into contactwith the panel unit 20, which causes disturbance noise such as staticelectricity in the panel unit 20. In particular, when the user operatesthe panel unit 20, there is a high possibility that an unintendedcontact between the user and the panel unit 20 occurs at the end of thepanel unit 20 on the user side. Therefore, a possibility thatdisturbance noise such as static electricity is generated at the end ofthe panel unit 20 on the user side is higher than that of the other end.By making the size of the frame area 420 located along the end on theuser side where such disturbance noise such as static electricity islikely to occur larger than the size of the frame area 420 located alongthe other end, when static electricity is generated in the panel unit20, even in the case where the static electricity enters the inside ofthe panel unit 20 via a gap between the cover glass 270 and the panelhousing 280, a sufficient distance can be secured between the gap andthe sensor Ts of the position detection sensor 230. As a result, it ispossible to reduce a possibility that the panel unit 20 and the printingdevice 1 may malfunction due to disturbance noise such as staticelectricity.

In particular, when the size of the touch sensor 400 of the panel unit20 in a diagonal direction is 10 inches or more, the size of the touchsensor 400 in the short side direction becomes 120 mm or more, andtherefore, a possibility of an unintended contact between the user andthe panel unit 20 increases. However, with the printing device 1according to the present embodiment, in the panel unit 20 to which theoperation information of the user is input, by making the size of theframe area 420 located along the end on the user side where suchdisturbance noise such as static electricity is likely to occur largerthan the size of the frame area 420 located along the other end, evenwhen the size of the touch sensor 400 of the panel unit 20 in thediagonal direction is a large screen of 10 inches or more, it ispossible to reduce the possibility that the panel unit 20 maymalfunction due to disturbance noise such as static electricity.

4. Effect

As described above, with the printing device 1 according to the presentembodiment, in the panel unit 20 rotatably attached to the printing unit10, the size of the frame area 421 extending along the lower side 401 inthe attachment state β in which the angle formed by the horizontaldirection and the normal direction of the touch sensor 400 is smallerthan the angle formed by the vertical direction and the normal directionof the touch sensor 400 is made larger than the size of the frame area422 extending along the upper side 402 in the attachment state β. Thatis, the size of the frame area 421 located on the operator side ofoperating the panel unit 20 attached to the printing device 1 is madelarger than the size of the frame area 422 located on the side away fromthe operator.

When the operator operates the panel unit 20, there is a highpossibility that the operator's clothes, the hypothenar eminence of thehand, the thumb ball, and the like unintentionally come into contactwith the panel unit 20 in the area on the operator side of the panelunit 20. Therefore, there is a high possibility that disturbance noisesuch as static electricity will occur in the area on the operator sideof the panel unit 20. In response to such a problem, by making the sizeof the frame area 421 located on the operator side of operating thepanel unit 20 attached to the printing device 1 larger than the size ofthe frame area 422 located on the side away from the operator, from theviewpoint of providing the printing device 1 with excellent usability,even when the large panel unit 20 is provided, a possibility that theprinting device 1 may malfunction due to the influence of disturbancenoise such as static electricity is reduced.

Further, with the printing device 1 according to the present embodiment,in the frame area 420, the size of the frame area 423 located along theside 403 in the direction from the side 403 to the side 404, that is,the direction along the y direction is made smaller than the size of theframe area 421 in the direction from the side 401 to the side 402, thatis, the direction along the x direction, and in the frame area 420, thesize of the frame area 424 located along the side 404 in the directionfrom the side 403 to the side 404, that is, the direction along the ydirection is made smaller than the size of the frame area 421 in thedirection from the side 401 to the side 402, that is, the directionalong the x direction. That is, in the panel unit 20, the size of theframe area 421 located on the operator side, which is easily affected bydisturbance noise such as static electricity, can be secured to be thelargest in the panel unit 20, and the frame areas 422, 423, and 424located away from the operator side, which are not easily affected bydisturbance noise such as static electricity, can be reduced. Thereby,in the panel unit 20, a large operation area 410 operated by the usercan be secured, and the possibility that the printing device 1 maymalfunction due to the influence of disturbance noise such as staticelectricity can be reduced.

Further, with the printing device 1 according to the present embodiment,in the panel housing 280, by making the size of the housing side portion281 located along the side 401 in the direction from the side 401 to theside 402, that is, the direction along the x direction larger than thesize of the housing side portion 282 located along the side 402 in thedirection from the side 401 to the side 402, that is, the directionalong the x direction, a larger area on the user side of the panel unit20 can be secured, and the possibility that the printing device 1 maymalfunction due to the influence of disturbance noise such as staticelectricity can be further reduced.

Further, with the printing device 1 according to the present embodiment,in the panel housing 280, the size of the housing side portion 283located along the side 403 in the direction from the side 403 to theside 404, that is, the direction along the y direction is made smallerthan the size of the housing side portion 281 in the direction from theside 401 to the side 402, that is, the direction along the x direction,and in the panel housing 280, the size of the housing side portion 284located along the side 404 in the direction from the side 403 to theside 404, that is, the direction along the y direction is made smallerthan the size of the housing side portion 281 in the direction from theside 401 to the side 402, that is, the direction along the x direction.Thereby, the possibility that the panel unit 20 becomes large can bereduced due to securing a large operation area 410 operated by the user,and the possibility that the printing device 1 may malfunction due tothe influence of disturbance noise such as static electricity can bereduced.

Further, with the printing device 1 according to the present embodiment,even when the touch sensor 400 of the panel unit 20 becomes large, thepossibility that the printing device 1 may malfunction due to theinfluence of disturbance noise such as static electricity can bereduced. Therefore, from the viewpoint of improving usability, even inthe printing device 1 provided with the large touch panel 500 having thetouch sensor 400 whose size in the diagonal direction is 10 inches ormore, the possibility that the printing device 1 may malfunction due tothe influence of disturbance noise such as static electricity can bereduced.

The embodiments have been described above, but the present disclosure isnot limited to these embodiments and can be carried out in various modeswithout departing from the scope of the present disclosure. For example,it is possible to combine the above-described embodiments asappropriate.

The present disclosure includes configurations that are substantiallythe same as the configurations described in the embodiments (forexample, configurations having the same function, method, and result, orconfigurations having the same object and effect). Further, the presentdisclosure includes configurations in which non-essential parts of theconfigurations described in the embodiments are replaced. In addition,the present disclosure includes configurations that achieve the sameeffect as the configurations described in the embodiments orconfigurations that can achieve the same object. Further, the presentdisclosure includes configurations in which known techniques are addedto the configurations described in the embodiment.

The following contents are derived from the above-described embodiment.

According to an aspect, there is provided a printing device including aprinting unit that performs printing on a medium, and a panel unit towhich operation information for operating the printing unit is input, inwhich the printing unit includes a printing mechanism that executes aprinting operation according to the operation information, and a maincircuit board including a processor that controls an operation of thepanel unit and controls an operation of the printing mechanism based onthe operation information, the panel unit includes a display panel, acapacitive touch sensor in which a position detection sensor and a coverglass are laminated, a panel circuit board electrically coupled to thecapacitive touch sensor, and a panel housing that stores the displaypanel, the capacitive touch sensor, and the panel circuit board, thecapacitive touch sensor includes a first side, a second side locatedfacing the first side, a third side intersecting both the first side andthe second side, and a fourth side located facing the third side, thepanel unit is rotatably attached to the printing unit so as to take afirst attachment state and a second attachment state, in the firstattachment state, an angle formed by a horizontal direction and a normaldirection of the capacitive touch sensor is larger than an angle formedby a vertical direction and the normal direction of the capacitive touchsensor, in the second attachment state, the angle formed by thehorizontal direction and the normal direction of the capacitive touchsensor is smaller than the angle formed by the vertical direction andthe normal direction of the capacitive touch sensor, when the panel unitis in the second attachment state, the capacitive touch sensor isdisposed so that the first side is lower than the second side in adirection along the vertical direction, the capacitive touch sensorincludes an operation area that receives an input of the operationinformation and a frame area that is provided around the operation areaand does not receive the input of the operation information, and a sizeof a first frame area located along the first side in the frame area ina direction from the first side to the second side is larger than a sizeof a second frame area located along the second side in the frame areain the direction from the first side to the second side.

According to the printing device, in the frame area that is providedaround the operation area of the touch sensor and does not receive aninput of operation information, in the second attachment state in whichthe angle formed by the horizontal direction and the normal direction ofthe capacitive touch sensor is smaller than the angle formed by thevertical direction and the normal direction of the capacitive touchsensor, by making the size of the first frame area located below in thevertical direction larger than the size of the second frame area locatedabove in the vertical direction, it is possible to secure a wide framearea located on the operator side, which is easily affected bydisturbance noise such as static electricity. Therefore, a possibilitythat disturbance noise such as static electricity will enter the insideof the panel unit is reduced. Therefore, even when a printing devicewith excellent usability is provided by increasing the size of the touchsensor of the panel unit, a possibility that the printing device maymalfunction due to disturbance noise such as static electricity can bereduced.

In the printing device according to the aspect, a size of a third framearea located along the third side in the frame area in a direction fromthe third side to the fourth side may be smaller than the size of thefirst frame area in the direction from the first side to the secondside, and a size of a fourth frame area located along the fourth side inthe frame area in the direction from the third side to the fourth sidemay be smaller than the size of the first frame area in the directionfrom the first side to the second side.

According to the printing device, the size of the first frame arealocated on the operator side, which is easily affected by disturbancenoise such as static electricity, can be secured to be the largest inthe panel unit. Thereby, the second frame area, the third frame area,and the fourth frame area located away from the operator side, which arenot easily affected by disturbance noise such as static electricity, canbe reduced. As a result, in the panel unit, a large operation areaoperated by the user can be secured, and a possibility that the printingdevice may malfunction due to the influence of disturbance noise such asstatic electricity can be reduced. That is, usability can be furtherimproved, and a possibility that the printing device may malfunction dueto disturbance noise such as static electricity can be reduced.

In the printing device according to the aspect, the panel housing mayinclude a first side portion located along the first side and a secondside portion located along the second side, and a size of the first sideportion in the direction from the first side to the second side may belarger than a size of the second side portion in the direction from thefirst side to the second side.

According to the printing device, in the panel unit, a wide first sideportion located on the operator side, which is easily affected bydisturbance noise such as static electricity, can be secured. That is, awide area located on the operator side, which is easily affected bydisturbance noise such as static electricity, can be secured. Therefore,a possibility that disturbance noise such as static electricity willenter the inside of the panel unit is further reduced.

In the printing device according to the aspect, the panel housing mayinclude a third side portion located along the third side and a fourthside portion located along the fourth side, a size of the third sideportion in a direction from the third side to the fourth side may besmaller than the size of the first side portion in the direction fromthe first side to the second side, and a size of the fourth side portionin the direction from the third side to the fourth side may be smallerthan the size of the first side portion in the direction from the firstside to the second side.

According to the printing device, the third side portion and the fourthside portion located away from the operator, which are not easilyaffected by disturbance noise such as static electricity, can bereduced. Thereby, the possibility that the panel unit becomes large canbe reduced due to securing a large operation area operated by the user,and the possibility that the printing device may malfunction due to theinfluence of disturbance noise such as static electricity can bereduced.

In the printing device according to the aspect, a size of the capacitivetouch sensor in a diagonal direction may be 10 inches or more.

According to the printing device, since the possibility that theprinting device may malfunction due to the influence of disturbancenoise such as static electricity can be reduced, even when thecapacitive touch sensor is as large as 10 inches or more, it is possibleto provide a printing device with a stable operation and excellentusability.

What is claimed is:
 1. A printing device comprising: a printing unitthat performs printing on a medium; and a panel unit to which operationinformation for operating the printing unit is input, wherein theprinting unit includes a printing mechanism that executes a printingoperation according to the operation information, and a main circuitboard including a processor that controls an operation of the panel unitand controls an operation of the printing mechanism based on theoperation information, the panel unit includes a display panel, acapacitive touch sensor in which a position detection sensor and a coverglass are laminated, a panel circuit board electrically coupled to thecapacitive touch sensor, and a panel housing that stores the displaypanel, the capacitive touch sensor, and the panel circuit board, thecapacitive touch sensor includes a first side, a second side locatedfacing the first side, a third side intersecting both the first side andthe second side, and a fourth side located facing the third side, thepanel unit is rotatably attached to the printing unit so as to take afirst attachment state and a second attachment state, in the firstattachment state, an angle formed by a horizontal direction and a normaldirection of the capacitive touch sensor is larger than an angle formedby a vertical direction and the normal direction of the capacitive touchsensor, in the second attachment state, the angle formed by thehorizontal direction and the normal direction of the capacitive touchsensor is smaller than the angle formed by the vertical direction andthe normal direction of the capacitive touch sensor, when the panel unitis in the second attachment state, the capacitive touch sensor isdisposed so that the first side is lower than the second side in adirection along the vertical direction, the capacitive touch sensorincludes an operation area that receives an input of the operationinformation and a frame area that is provided around the operation areaand does not receive the input of the operation information, and a sizeof a first frame area located along the first side in the frame area ina direction from the first side to the second side is larger than a sizeof a second frame area located along the second side in the frame areain the direction from the first side to the second side.
 2. The printingdevice according to claim 1, wherein a size of a third frame arealocated along the third side in the frame area in a direction from thethird side to the fourth side is smaller than the size of the firstframe area in the direction from the first side to the second side, anda size of a fourth frame area located along the fourth side in the framearea in the direction from the third side to the fourth side is smallerthan the size of the first frame area in the direction from the firstside to the second side.
 3. The printing device according to claim 1,wherein the panel housing includes a first side portion located alongthe first side and a second side portion located along the second side,and a size of the first side portion in the direction from the firstside to the second side is larger than a size of the second side portionin the direction from the first side to the second side.
 4. The printingdevice according to claim 3, wherein the panel housing includes a thirdside portion located along the third side and a fourth side portionlocated along the fourth side, a size of the third side portion in adirection from the third side to the fourth side is smaller than thesize of the first side portion in the direction from the first side tothe second side, and a size of the fourth side portion in the directionfrom the third side to the fourth side is smaller than the size of thefirst side portion in the direction from the first side to the secondside.
 5. The printing device according to claim 1, wherein a size of thecapacitive touch sensor in a diagonal direction is 10 inches or more.